


I turn to you, you're all I see

by iamtheprophet_chuck



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Kiss, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 12:24:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5048491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtheprophet_chuck/pseuds/iamtheprophet_chuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bitty made a decision to stop covering his soulmate tattoo the summer after sophomore year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I turn to you, you're all I see

Bitty made a decision to stop covering his soulmate tattoo the summer after sophomore year. He was already mostly out to the team, at that point, so he didn’t feel he had anything to hide anymore. The incoming Frogs should get to know the full him right off the bat, he figured. He was the new team captain after all.

Of course the first person to notice it was Ransom.

“Bro!” Ransom had blurted out apropos of nothing. He had stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes comically wide. Bitty followed his gaze to his wrist and made a face.

“It’s not him, Ransom, I promise.” Ransom looked a little skeptical but let it go.

\--

The second person to notice was Lardo, but a quick shake of Eric’s head had her nodding in understanding.

\--

The third person to notice, was Holster. And he made sure to let everybody know.

“BRO ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? YOUR SOULMATE TAT SAYS ‘JACK’?!”

Eric’s eyes had widened, and he’d taken an instinctive step back from the huge shouting hockey player. Holster took a deep breath and stopped flailing his arms before bellowing up the stairs.

“HAUS MEETING, EVERYONE IN THE KITCHEN.”

“Glad to know Shitty’s legacy carries on,” Bitty mumbled under his breath as he bent to pull a sheet of cookies from the oven.

Soon Chowder, Ransom, Dex, Nursey and Lardo were standing in the kitchen looking confused. Holster perched on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, planting one foot in the center of the seat.

“Brahs. Bitty here has been holding out on us.” Holster began. “Shh shh, Bitty let me finish. If you haven’t noticed yet, Bitty here has uncovered his soulmate tattoo this year.”

Holster paused for dramatic effect and made eye contact with every single person in the room before continuing.

“Now, I feel like I wouldn’t be a proper bro if I didn’t congratulate Bitty on his good fortunate. Our little baker here has Jack’s name on his wrist!”

Chowder clapped a hand over his mouth with a squeak, Nursey smiled at him, and Dex looked wary. Lardo just rolled her eyes, but Ransom’s face lit up.

“Bro, right?! Bitty tried to tell me it wasn’t our Jack.” Ransom threw an accusatory look at Eric.

“It’s _not_ ,” Eric insisted, feeling a little hysterical. “I swear to god. I had it covered because I didn’t want to make things awkward, not because I was covering some secret _tryst_ , goodness. And do you really think Jack would appreciate me outing him after he just started training with the Falconers?”

“But Jack always keeps his covered too!” Holster insisted.

“Yeah, how do you know for sure?”

Holster and Ransom locked eyes: “Operation: Find out Jack’s name?”

“No!” Bitty finally interrupted with a shout. “My soulmate is _not_ Jack Laurent Zimmermann. You just know these things, okay? Now you boys are going to leave it alone, I swear you two are worse than a dog with a bone. And don’t you dare bother him; he needs to focus on his hockey.”

“Damn, Bitty’s already got his captain’s voice down,” Dex whispered to Nursey in awe.

“Brah needs to chill,” Nursey whispered back, and Lardo’s shepherded them out of the kitchen, dragging a reluctant Chowder behind them.

“But what if Jack and Bitty are meant to be?” Chowder managed to wail-whisper to them when they made it around the corner, his eyes filling with tears. “This is so sad, guys, we gotta help.”

Lardo just fixed an eye on Chowder. “Drop it, Chow,” She repeated. “If Bits says Jack’s not his, then he’s not. There are millions of Jacks in the world.”

\--

The following day it seemed Holster and Ransom had been properly cowed by Bitty’s tone, and were going to let it lie. But they did pout at him a little until he made them peanut butter cookies. Eric didn’t even try to pretend they weren’t a bribe.

Because the thing was: Eric _didn’t_ know. But he was about 99% sure that Jack didn’t have his name. Enough allusions from Shitty about Jack’s past with Kent--involving feelings of an indeterminate nature--and Jack’s sparse dating life, had led Eric to the conclusion that Jack was probably at least bisexual. But Eric would never have dared to push it. Jack could come out on his own time, or never at all. It was his prerogative. And while Jack might be hiding his name because he was in the public eye a lot, it might also be an issue of staying in the closet in the NHL. Assuming, of course, that the name on Jack’s wrist was a boy’s. Which Eric couldn’t know for certain.

If Kent was Jack’s type though, likelihood was Eric’s name wasn’t the one on Jack’s wrist, Eric thought. Kent was brash, bold, confident, unafraid, and way more hockey bro than Eric could ever dream to be. Eric was just grateful that Jack warmed to him after his first semester, they even became what he’d call good friends. And they kept texting after Jack graduated and moved to Providence.

However willing Eric was now to find his soulmate, he refused to dwell on what-ifs. Jack hadn’t ever shown him any interest. Last year when they'd grown closer, he’d thought _maybe_. But now Jack was gone, and Eric was going to move on.

\--

Eric goes on a few dates that semester. Even dates a boy named Jack--a chem major with the cutest dimples it made Eric want to scream. They go on a few dates, and Eric receives the best blowjob of his life to date, but Jack-chem-major had “Marjorie” on his wrist, so it doesn’t last.

\--

They win their first game. The kegster the following day is, to borrow a phrase from Ransom, _mad crazy_. Despite only getting 1 assist, Eric is forced to do two keg stands. _Haus rules bro, Captain does 2_. Eric rolls his eyes at them but does it anyway. Jack never drank much, so for all he knows this could’ve been a long standing tradition that they overlooked just for him. Or they could just be fucking with him.

Either way, Eric is feeling good as he makes his way to the kitchen to grab some water to wash down the terrible beer. Maybe mix himself a cocktail with some fruit juice. He cut up a lime earlier for garnish. Just because he’s partying with a bunch of jocks doesn’t mean he can’t have style.

He practically runs headlong into one Jack Zimmermann when he rounds the corner.

“Jack!” He says, just a tad more enthusiastically than he intends. He barely restrains himself from wrapping his arms around Jack and squeezing for all he’s worth, like he wants to. Eric laughs lightly, trying to steady himself. He finally manages a _What’re you doin’ here_ without sounding breathless.

Jack just stares blankly at him for a moment, before seeming to shake himself out of wherever he’d gone to.  
“Do I have somethin’ on my face?” Eric asks, his accent stretching his vowels. Jack’s lips quirk up at the corners and he just shakes his head.

“I wanted to come congratulate you guys on your win,” Jack has to lean into Eric’s space so he can hear him, and Eric almost stops himself from taking an obvious breath to relish the scent of Jack’s cologne. “See how you’re getting along as captain.”

“I’ll have you know that I am doin’ just fine as captain, Mr. NHL,” Eric faked indignance and slapped a hand on Jack’s chest. “As you just mentioned, we did win our first game.”

Eric gives into his flirty impulses and winks at Jack, and turns to head into the kitchen gesturing for Jack to following.

Jack leans against the counter as Eric grabs a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Is it really tradition that the C has to do 2 keg stands?” Eric asks, curious. Jack nods.

“They gave up on me after Shitty told them off,” Jack says. Eric laughs.

Suddenly, Jack freezes, staring at Eric’s wrist. _Oh, shit,_ Eric thinks.

“It’s not what you think, Jack!” Eric hurries to say. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you, I just didn’t want you to feel pressured or awkward or anything, I know you’re not my soulmate, I mean I don’t _know,_  know, but I can make a fairly educated guess, and I just didn’t wanna make things weird between us, even though you know I’m gay, and--”

Eric finally catches himself, and cringes. He scratches the back of his head absently staring at the ground.

“I told the guys not to bug you about it, I promise I didn’t lead them on to thinking we were anything more than friends.” He can’t look at Jack anymore. Eric turns his face to look out the window, trying to stop the panic which is welling up inside him but he can already feel the tears gathering in his eyes.

“Bittle,” Jack says, quietly. He rests his hand on Eric’s arm, and Eric ducks his head. “Bitty, I’m not mad at you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Eric laughs, just a trace of bitterness coloring the edges.

“Didn’t I just tell you?” He can see Jack shifting in his periforal vision and figures he’s leaving. _Gone, hasta la vista Bitty, nice knowing you_. But then suddenly Jack’s in front of him and he’s holding Eric’s face between his hands like Eric is something precious and beautiful.

Jack kisses Bitty then and there. And Eric makes the most undignified squeaking noise he will deny to his dying day before he melts beneath Jack’s touch. When Jack pulls away, Eric just stares at him for a moment, dazed.

“Jack if you’re just messin’ with me,” Eric warns, breathless. Jack frowns, but he steps out of Eric’s space then, and pulls the wristband covering his soulmate tattoo off his wrist. It reads ‘Eric’.

“I didn’t know,” Jack says. “Bitty, I didn’t know, and I didn’t think- I mean, how could you possibly-?” Jack’s face screws itself up. “I was so _mean_ to you.”

If Eric hadn’t already been teary he’d have started crying right then at the sorrow and regret in Jack’s voice.

“Oh, Jack,” Eric sighs, bringing a hand up to Jack’s face gently. “I forgave you for that ages ago.”

Eric hesitates to initiate another kiss where anyone could find them, but Jack risks it anyway, capturing Bitty’s lips with his, licking sweetly into his mouth. Jack kisses with a conflicting mixture of surety and tentativeness. Firm, but tender. Exploratory, yet shy.

Finally, they pull apart, and startle to see that Lardo had entered the kitchen undetected.

She holds her forefinger up to her lips to signal her secrecy, and shoots a wink their way as she leaves. Eric slumps forward into Jack’s arms then, and Jack just pats his back.

“Oh man, Holster is gonna be so mad,” Eric groans. Startled laughter bubbles from Jack and suddenly the two of them are giggling like schoolboys, giddy in their new love.

“Should we take this upstairs?” Jack asks, when they’ve calmed somewhat. Bitty beams up at him and grabs his hand.

“Lead the way, Mr Zimmermann.”

**Author's Note:**

> And thus concludes my first published fic in the omgcp fandom. You can find me on tumblr at [omgzimbitsplease](http://omgzimbitsplease.tumblr.com)
> 
> Any comments, kudos, or constructive criticism are appreciated :) xoxo


End file.
